Led by Tomas Rosicky, Arsenal were delightful to watch for long spells and looked more than comfortable at half-time. Brighton, after an insipid 45, were much better in the second period, with Rohan Ince in midfield particularly impressive, and they really made a fight of it. But it’s the holders who march on courtesy of Rosicky’s masterclass, while Walcott and Özil looked good before tiring on their returns to fitness. I’m off, speak soon! And if you haven’t had enough yet, Nick Miller has all the action from Equatorial Guinea v Gabon in the Africa Cup of Nations. Bye!

94mins: Rosicky crosses to Ramsey from the right. The Welshman volleys over.

93mins: Sánchez once more. This time he hits the roof of the net.

92mins: Arsenal keeping possession now. Rosicky dribbles forward, Dunk slides in front of him and the ball hits his arm. Another free-kick to come.

91mins: Akpom breaks, Sánchez is unmarked to his right but the former chooses to continue himself and is taken down by Dunk 25 yards from goal. Sánchez’s free-kick is well saved by Stockdale. Then Arsenal take it to the corner.

90mins: Four minutes injury time.

90mins: Brighton have it at the back. A long Greer pump forward sees Koscielny collect. He feeds to Monreal who gives it right back to Greer, who – yep, you guessed it – hooks another long ball forward.

89mins: March sends a low cross in from the right but Flamini hooks clear.

88mins: Greer booked for taking down Akpom.

86mins: Penalty shout for Brighton ignored by Michael Oliver. Colunga’s cross hits Chambers arm at point-blank range. The defender simply had no time to get his arm, which was by his side, out of the way. A correct call.

86mins: Sánchez’s corner picks out Koscielny at the back-post but Brighton get rid.

85mins: Sánchez takes it himself. It takes a very slight deflection off the wall and glazes the bar. Corner incoming.

83mins: Sánchez is taken down by Greer at the edge of the area with a high boot. Danger, here.

82mins: Final Brighton change sees Colunga on for Forster-Caskey.

80mins: Arsenal drop deep as Greer picks out O’Grady on the edge of the box. He is dispossessed, Arsenal break through Sánchez. The Chilean picks out Akpom, whose shot is saved by Stockdale.

78mins: Coquelin on for Özil who had tired.

76mins: Akpom breaks on the left for Arsenal and Holla comes across to take one for the team and pick up a yellow card. Worth it to halt a promising break from Arsenal.

75mins: Ince slides in and takes the ball off Sánchez’s feet in the centre-circle and Brighton then attack on the left.

73mins: Sam Baldock booked for taking down Rosicky.

71mins: The tempo is dropping now. Brighton playing it about without much to threaten Arsenal. Inevitably, they lose possession softly.

No additional comment required

70mins: Arsenal make two changes. Akpom and Sánchez make their way on in place of Giroud and Walcott.

69mins: March looking lively since coming on. He flies down the right but his options are sparse to say the least with O’Grady the only player up front and Arsenal surround him before cleaning up.

67mins: Giroud spreads it wide to Walcott on the left, having swapped flanks with Özil, and he drills a right-footed effort towards goal. Stockdale saves.

Clinical

65mins: March is involved right away, finding O’Grady but the striker’s effort fails to find the target.

63mins: First Brighton substitute as March, er, marches on for Bruno (sorry).

62mins: Rosicky has been exceptional aside from his clearance in the buildup to Brighton’s goal. Arsenal have resumed control after that brief spell before the third where Brighton were coming into it. And the olés are now ringing out from the away end.

Rosicky smashes a wonderful right-footed volley past Stockdale after yet another good give-and-go with Giroud, whose lofted return ball fell perfectly into the Czech’s path. A typical Arsenal goal, in many ways.

57mins: Brighton, with the fans ratcheting the volume up, are imposing themselves now.

56mins: Nice run for Calderon into the area. Koscielny is tracking him but the Brighton player takes an embarrassing tumble with the ball at his feet and Michael Oliver waves play on.

54mins: Arsenal corner as Giroud and Dunk square up. The delivery is only partially cleared by Dunk, Rosicky, on the left of the area, knocks it to Giroud who cannot muster an attempt.

53mins: Chambers crosses from the right by Bruno chests it back to Stockdale.

A terrible clearance from Rosicky sees Baldock pressure Chambers. The defender protests but the ball falls to O’Grady who steadies, sees off a terribly lackadaisical Koscielny challenge and fires low to Szczesny’s right from just inside the box. They couldn’t, could they?

49mins: Özil’s free-kick from the right is headed clear by O’Grady. Gibbs pumps it back into the box but it breaks in Brighton’s favour.

47mins: Rosicky floats an aestethically pleasing pass over the Brighton defence but it holds up after bouncing and can’t find Giroud

Aston Villa have beaten Bournemouth 2-1, in case you were wondering …

Some of your half-time emails

Looks like Arsenal and West Ham are building a partnership to rescue the Premier League from its batting collapse – Marie Meyer delivers a mixed metaphor

Does Arsenal’s capture of centre back Gabriel Paulista signal decreasing need for Arsenal Rhinoceros (Pentrate-us Bicornis) which have become increasingly endangered and on the point of extinction? They have become increasingly slow in movement and reaction to such an extent they are even being hunted down by poles. Despite their usefulness in putting out bushfires in the wild, and cigarettes in change rooms, they are continually being replaced by more nimble types – Raymond Reardon, who may not be the former snooker player

45mins: One minute (at least) to be added on.

44mins: Gibbs looks for a one-two with Giroud but the return fails to make its way into the path of the advanced defender.

42mins: Dunk gets in the way of a rocket-propelled Ramsey shot from 25 yards.

41mins: Brighton win a free-kick 30 yards out after Ramsey slides in on Forster-Caskey. Arsenal clean the delivery up, Walcott breaks on the left but the home side recover in enough time to stem the flow and Arsenal end up working it back to the defence before Rosicky goes again after being fed by Chambers.

39mins: Ince wins it in midfield and tries to find Baldock. But his pass does not have enough pace on it, summing up Brighton’s performance so far.

37mins: Now Arsenal have it back and are zipping it around. Flamini finds Rosicky, who is in delightful form. A flick to Giroud follows before the France striker loses it.

35mins: Bit of a lull now. Brighton in possession at the back but struggling to find a pass into midfield. After a minute or so, Bruno threads a ball through to O’Grady, who finds Forster-Caskey. The youngster drills well over from 30ish yards.

32mins: More tippy-tappy football from Arsenal. They are in no rush, playing a dozen or so short passes at a relaxed pace from right to left. Gibbs finds Giroud but he can’t control.

29mins: Big chance for Brighton. The best we’ve seen from them so far. Koscielny hesitates and fails to clear. Sam Baldock is left unmarked at the back-post and drills narrowly over.

27mins: In the rare moments Arsenal do not have possession, they are closing down Brighton rapidly in an attempt to win it back. This is all very impressive so far from Arsenal, but Brighton simply have not settled and look very shaky.

So, so slick from Arsenal. Rosicky cuts into a central position near the D, picks out Özil who was too loosely marked by Greer, and the Germany international takes a delightful, nonchalant touch before coolly slotting past Stockdale. Game over?

23mins: Lots of nice tippy-tappy passing from Arsenal on the left. Brighton can’t get a touch.

21mins: Bennett cedes possession too easily and Walcott charges forward. He reaches the area and with Rosicky in space, Walcott gets confused, stutters and Brighton clear.

19mins: Finally some attacking intent from Brighton as Ince runs purposefully forward and tries to find O’Grady but his pass is intercepted. Arsenal then break and Rosicky’s cross from the left is smothered by Stockdale.

17mins: After that ferocious start, Arsenal appear happy to leave Brighton have the ball for a slight moment. The hosts are hardly threatening and when they give it away Arsenal keep it and keep it some more.

15mins: Brighton passing it across the back again and Dunk puts a long ball forward, into the path of Baldock but Szczesny comes out to collect.

(Elsewhere – and this really is noteworthy – Aston Villa have actually, finally, eventually scored a goal. And lead 1-0 at home to Bournemouth 10 minutes into the second period)

12mins: Brighton are allowed to pass it around the back a little. Eventually Bruno advances on the right, tries to find Calderon but his pass is overhit and Arsenal have a goal-kick.

10mins: Another Arsenal corner after the ball deflects off Greer. Bruno clears Walcott’s delivery.

9mins: Brighton finally make it out of their half. Bruno puts a long-throw into the box, it’s headed clear by Gibbs as far as Rohan Ince, whose tasty volley is blocked by Özil. Imagine it hurt the returning Germany international, no matter how much work he’s been doing in the gym.

7mins: Walcott wins another Arsenal corner on the right as Brighton continue to struggle with their movement. Bruno clears the delivery, Rosicky has a potshot blocked by O’Grady and eventually Gibbs’ cross from the left is claimed in the air by Stockdale.

6mins: Ramsey and Özil play a neat one-two and the former has a right-footed shot blocked by Dunk. Corner for Arsenal … which Olivier Giroud heads goalwards before it’s cleared.

4mins: Walcott dribbles forward and attempts a give and go with Giroud but the Frenchman’s pass fails to find the goalscorer. Not exactly the start Brighton wanted, they need to get some sort of possession and settle soon.

Calum Chambers advances down the right flank and crosses to Theo Walcott at the near post. Walcott takes a touch, steadies and fires across goal into the far corner. What a start for the visitors.

Chris Hughton, everybody!

Some words from the managers

Brighton’s Chris Hughton explains Joao Teixeira’s absence: “He’s ill, had a temperature yesterday … it was significantly worse overnight and this morning. A real blow for him, but we’re a team in decent form at the moment.

Arsène Wenger on Cup shocks: “It was a huge surprise that it happened to teams at home. English football. [Something mumbled about academies and lower league teams’ physicality].”

Hans-Peter Sieber has emailed in

After yesterday’s results, if Arsenal stumble against Brighton, can you still call it a surprise? They have the onus of being favourites, but they have been amply warned! On the other hand, a starting eleven without that one-man powerhouse Sanchez does bode ill for a cup fixture. Is he at least on the bench? If not, I am low on optimism!

Yes, Hans-Peter, Alexis Sánchez is on the bench along with this bunch …

Brighton subs: Hughes, Adrian Colunga, Mackail-Smith, Chicksen, Rea, March, Walton.
Arsenal subs: Mertesacker, Sánchez, Cazorla, Martínez, Coquelin, Akpom, Bellerin.
And the referee, who let’s hope we don’t have to mention again but propably should do for posterity is Mr Michael Oliver

Anyone for stats?

Brighton’s only defeat in their past 12 home Cup matches came against Arsenal in January 2013 – the last time the Gunners have had a tie outside of London

Arsenal have scored at least twice in six of their past seven FA Cup games – and Olivier Giroud, who starts up front on his own today, has scored in five of his past seven

This will be the fifth FA Cup meeting between the two and Arsenal have won the four previous encounters

Alan will be here shortly with all the action from the Amex Stadium. In the meantime, here’s Amy Lawrence on the match:

Iñigo Calderón could scarcely bear to watch his television last Sunday as his fellow Spaniard Santi Cazorla dazzled while Arsenal defeated Manchester City. Calderón, who hails from the Basque country, not so far from the Asturias region that Cazorla calls home, is an enthusiastic admirer of his compatriot’s talent but there was a point where watching became almost too much. “I tried to switch off the TV,” Calderón says with a chuckle. “They were on fire and I tried not to destroy my confidence.”

Jokes apart, this awareness about his own confidence levels – and how they can be manipulated by external influences and personal techniques – is particularly highly tuned in a player who has become a stalwart for Brighton & Hove Albion since his arrival five years ago.

As a young player Calderón combined his sporting aspirations with education at the university in Vitoria. He spent five years soaking up the nuances of a sports science degree and when he finished he took a masters in sports psychology. All while representing the shirts of Alicante and Alavés. He uses the insights and intuition he picked up in the classroom constantly in the dressing room and on the training ground. It is, he believes, a fundamental part of his footballing life.

Read the full story here.